The Champion & The Captain
by PandaHawke
Summary: Focusing more on the relationship between F!Hawke & Isabela over the Champion's stay in Kirkwall.Rated M, just because anything with Isabela in should be :D F!Hawke/Isabela.
1. Tranquility

**Tranquility**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Dragon age 2. Everything you recognise in this fic belongs to Bioware and all their dragony goodness. :DDD_

_A/N: This fic will contain F!Hawke/Isabela goodness, so if you don't like the sound of that, you probably won't like this fic xD_

It seemed to Hawke that fleeing the Darkspawn was the easier part of the past few years compared to this. Now, trying to create a name for herself in Kirkwall was testing for her. So many people wanted so many things and for such little reward. She felt that she had worked so hard over the last few months, but her coin purse was still too light for Bartrand's affairs.

Every day was draining. Fighting Bandits, killing off Dragonlings, delivering items, finding items for the local herbalist and the final task she had just completed was for a former Grey Warden – Anders. The meeting with his friend had turned sour, and they were forced to kill him. In all honesty Hawke was rather upset to see a fellow mage fall once again under Templar influence. Though, she was composed throughout the whole ordeal, keeping a reasonable tone and hoping to reason with the Templars. The last thing she wanted was to create a rivalry with the Templars. It was hard enough getting around with all the Bandits and such and she didn't need Templars hot on her heels too.

Still, it was rewarding in itself at the end of each day to know that she could drag herself down to the Hanged Man, and to relax with cold ale in hand. Most nights she would sit in Varric's room, talking about what riches awaited them in The Deep Roads and other adventures. But some nights - like this one - she would sit in a corner on her own.

It sounded depressing, thinking about it. But she felt most relaxed when she was sat in that corner, the cheerful music filling the air – alongside the stench of sweat, ale and heavy perfume from the barmaids. It was the only place she could have her own space. Sharing a room with Carver was close to excruciating. Honestly, if Hawke could pick between sharing a room with the Archdemon itself or her brother she would gladly pick the Archdemon without hesitating.

Her signature smirk slid upon her lips at the thought, though the image of her trying to get some sleep whilst the Archdemon snored beside her soon left her head as a commotion had erupted in the far corner of the room and everything had fallen silent, making the scene the focal point of the room.

A woman was battling at least 5 armed men alone, moving gracefully and humiliating each one of them by smashing glasses on their heads, punching them in their faces and finally a blade to the Leader's neck.

"So tell me Lucky... Is this worth dying for?"

Breaking the silence the room had created, a small chuckle escaped Hawke's lips. The man ran away, the rest of his men practically pissing themselves in fear and following suit. Soon enough, the music started playing again and the feisty woman directed her attention towards the Refugee.

The woman's hips swayed as she made her way towards the mage, and Hawke's eyes drifted down to watch the hypnotizing movements. The brunette boldly sat opposite her, without asking to take the seat.

"You're new around here, aren't you?"

Hawke tilted her head to the side, and not wanting to be caught looking where she shouldn't she directed her gaze to the others.

"Is it really that obvious?"

She joked, her smirk never faltering. Sarcasm was one of her best traits. Being a mage had its part to play for that. Whenever she was teased when she was younger, or threatened by a Templar lover, a back handed comment always threw her opponent off guard. Out witting the opponent and making them fumble always made encounters more fun, anyway.

The brunette laughed slightly. "Well, you have that whole Ferelden look about you. I spent quite some time there back in the day."

Hawke's smirk fell. Ferelden. It had seemed like an age since she had stepped foot in that place, and yet every time she heard the word she longed for nothing more than to just go back to how things used to be. Before the Blight, before the Darkspawn and more importantly, before Bethany had died. Hawke looked away as thoughts of her sister flooded her mind. It was practically her fault she had died, she allowed her to go into battle against an ogre. An ogre for Maker's sake! How could she be so stupid? Maybe if she hadn't been so cocksure and flippant back then, Bethany would still be here.

The stranger arched an eyebrow. Maybe talking about the refugee's former home wasn't the best topic of conversation to pick. She simply smiled, and changed the subject. "I'm Isabela. Well, Captain Isabela actually."

Hawke's memories slipped away as her eyes made their way back to the newly introduced _Captain _Isabela. "Captain?"

Proudly, Isabela nodded and gave a fake royal wave "Yes. Well..." She put a finger to her lips "I was..."

At this, Hawke chuckled and questioned her.

"Well, I was a Captain. Until I lost my ship."

Hawke grinned widely. "So, then. I won't be addressing you by Captain, will I? I mean a Captain without a ship... or a crew is just a regular person." She retorted, shrugging a little.

Isabela put her finger out in defence, but decided not to rise to her comment. She huffed dramatically and shook her head. "Alright, smart arse. Are you going to introduce yourself? Or are you going to just sit there looking pretty and sipping at your ale?"

Hawke didn't know why she was indulging this stranger in a conversation with her. Usually if someone approached her in the Hanged Man she would tell them to swing the other way and find a ditch to die in so she could just sit alone. But with this woman, after watching that scene with her and the men, she was intrigued as to why she would want to talk to her. Hawke was not about to ask her about the commotion, as she was sure it was none of her business – like many things in the Hanged Man.

Perhaps she would even help Hawke in her attempts to clean up Kirkwall and to earn money for The Deep Roads. She seemed talented. Quick, graceful, and handy with a blade. Yes, Hawke silently decided to herself that Isabela would most probably be a great help if she would join her.

But then, she realised that she had been thinking too much again, instead of saying something. "Hawke. My name is Hawke."

The Rivaini opposite her nodded her head and smiled "A pleasure to meet you." She leaned forward, and Hawke could swear she saw a hint of seduction in her eyes but quickly dismissed the idea as she watched to see what the well endowed woman had to say. "I need a favour from you."

Hawke sighed, and leant back in her chair, leaning her head back. "You too?"

_A/N: Hi :D So, this is my first fic. So, please don't be too harsh D: I fell in love with this pairing whilst I was playing through the game. Please review! :D I know it's a little slow so far, but I just wanted to get the ball rolling and get Hawke & Isabela meeting each other. so the next chapter should be more exciting- Promise :D!_


	2. Fools rush in

**Fools rush in**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Dragon age 2. Everything you recognise in this fic belongs to Bioware and all their dragony goodness. :DDD _

_A/N: I couldn't think of a better chapter name xD_

"I told her enough. I told her I had arranged for a duel with you -which I did. I also told her you wouldn't play fair – which you haven't."

Hawke grumbled, her eyes rolling at the mess she had been dragged into. When Isabela had asked for her favour, she had told her all about a man named Hayder, his leader Castillion and how for some reason or another they were on her back. The Rivaini briefly mentioned a relic that she needed to find as a means of bribery, but other than that no more questions were asked. Hawke had agreed to help her, if coin were the reward.

But now she doubted herself. Hayder and his men were no pushovers and no common smugglers or bandits. The fights to the Chantry had been draining enough, though luckily they only escaped with a few cuts and bruises. They were also fortunate that she had brought Anders along – on standby ready to heal someone. Tonight she had dragged Aveline and Varric along with her. She would have brought Carver, but she was fed up of his constant moaning and just wanted to get tonight over and done with without any jealous comments coming from him.

Hawke had grown accustomed to dragging almost everyone she knew into these situations. She liked to have as much back up as she could, so she could avoid losing someone like she did with Bethany. Though the situation she had been dragged into by the Pirate wasn't the only thing that had been giving her doubts. Bringing Aveline along was turning out to be a mistake. Her tank like structure and inhuman like strength was always a strong asset to the force. But this time, the manlike woman had bitten her ear off for even speaking to Isabela. It transpired the two had a few run ins over the past months and in her opinion the Pirate was not someone Hawke or the others should be associated with.

The dark haired mage sighed, and was soon brought back into the conversation as Isabela looked demandingly at her – obviously wanting a response. "You know, you could have told me more about this." It was like she was scolding her, but she was right. The pirate was eager for her to help her – blatantly she couldn't find anyone else able enough to do so. Aveline agreed with her under her breath, a rolling of the eyes followed.

Isabela narrowed her eyes at Hawke. "Look, if you really want to talk about this we can do it later" Her tone was harsh and actually quite serious. Varric let out a whistle. He had never seen the Rivaini quite so serious in his life – the two used to get caught up in all sorts of trouble back in the day. Though, he supposed if her life were really on the line because of all this then maybe she had a perfectly good reason to be serious for once. For now, anyway. "If we don't do something, Hayder will go to Castillion." The brunette added, watching for Hawke's reaction.

"Oh, I have a strange feeling Castillion won't be hearing anything. Not from him, anyway." The Rivaini darted her gaze from Hawke to Hayder and his men, a small grin creeping on her lips. Confirmation was all she needed, and now that she had it she was going to have fun. Her blade flung from her hand, and Hawke was sure that if she would have blinked in that moment she would have missed it. Her dagger pierced one of Hayder's men, blood spattering in the air and landing on the Chantry's floor. Hawke smiled. Surely the Grand Cleric would have a heart attack if she knew what was going on in the Makers presence.

Of course a fight broke out amongst both parties, blades swinging around here there and everywhere. As a battlemage, Hawke was sure to keep her distance as much as she could, using her spells and abilities to a maximum. If an enemy came close to her, she just flung herself at them and used the dagger like blade on the end of the staff to wound them. On her travels, Aveline had taught her how to confront enemies without fear and Varric had taught her how to find the enemies weak spot and strike at it – so melee combat was no worry to her.

The others used their talents to good use and the battle seemed to be over surprisingly quickly, to Hawke's approval.

Blood covered her face and clothes. She had found a rather fetching ensemble when she was helping Aveline out with her Bandit problems. Hawke was never keen on the robes mages wore, and so she wore the piece gladly. For the upper body, Hawke wore a sort of jacket padded out a little to protect her from any damage. Navy blue embroidery trailed down her back, and was just bright enough to make out from the otherwise black linen. She wore tight black pants for the bottom half, which according to Jean Luc had been enchanted with Protection Runes to add to the armour. For her hands and feet, wore simple superior gloves and Spiral Eye boots. Of course, now ruined thanks to their little encounter.

"Well, glad that was over" Isabela broke the silence, wiping sweat and blood from her brow with the back of her hand. She smiled innocently "Are we done here, or would you like to prod me with questions?" 

Hawke turned towards Isabela and growled slightly, though it didn't do nothing more than make Isabela smile more. "You failed to mention these men were trained. Someone could have been killed."

Isabela shrugged and shook her head "Details, Kitten. Minor details. No need to get a bee in your bonnet about it." Isabela chuckled at the sigh Hawke let out, and watched the refugee shake her head in disapproval. She was used to getting that look, practically every minute – so it didn't bother her.

"Minor details? Okay." Hawke was too tired to put up a fight, and Aveline said something all high and mighty and how they should of just left this business with the guardsmen but Hawke was too tired to argue with her too. Though, Isabela managed to shoot her a glance showing her disapproval.

Hawke tilted her head to one side, allowing her jet hair to shift to the right ever so slightly – revealing her fantastic royal hues. "So, I'm guessing even with Hayder gone there's still Castillion to look out for. I'm also guessing he's a lot stronger than Hayder too, right?"

Isabela nodded, her smile still tugging at her lips "that's right, though I'll keep a keen eye out for this relic of his. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything" Hawke chuckled at that – when did she ever agree to help her with finding a relic? "You know, I think I might hang around for a while. Tell you what, just come find me if you need me – I'll be glad to help" There was that look again, the look she had flashed Hawke in the Hanged Man.

The Pirate sauntered over to Hawke her hips swaying once again, not stopping until she was inches away, making Hawke suddenly feel quite wary of the Rogue. She dipped her hand in her pocket and gave Hawke her well deserved coin. Hawke was watching the Rivaini carefully, and a small breath escaped her lips in surprise when the woman leaned forward and brushed her ear with her tender lips.

"I have a room in the Hanged Man, if you're ever looking for some... Company" She whispered in her ear, her words hushed so only Hawke could hear. The mages face felt like it was burning up, her cheeks claiming a soft tint of rose. The Rivaini chuckled seductively and turned away, leaving the Chantry. Surely the Pirate woman didn't mean that sort of company, did she? Hawke still didn't know much about the Rivaini, so it was hard to tell what she meant by it. Maybe she just meant company as in sitting down for a few drinks. Still, it seemed Hawke's curiosity would only be sated if she actually turned up at the Hanged Man tonight.

A/N: Just a quick update before I head off to work :D Not sure whether this is going to be a Rivalry Romance or a Friendship one. Honestly, I think it's going to be a mixture of both.


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